


We’ll Stumble Through It All

by Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool



Series: Unpredictable [Wolfpack AU] [1]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Blood, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of All Time Low, Minor Violence, Nightmares, Pack Dynamics, Werewolves, hints at past abuse, these tags make it sound super dark but I swear it's not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25048723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool/pseuds/Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool
Summary: ' They tumbled through the underbrush, scaring a few birds, but Calum quickly halted them with an arm across Michael’s chest when he noticed another wolf a few feet away.Michael was confused for all of two seconds, before he spotted the wolf too, and quickly sat on the ground. Calum followed suit, noting the way the wolf cowered away, timid. Its fur was shaggy and pale brown, body lithe, ribs visible, hazel eyes too human to be a regular wolf. Its back leg didn’t touch the floor, held carefully, and there was blood visible in its fur.“Can you change back?” Calum asked gently. Michael shucked his hoodie and held it out as an offering.“We won’t hurt you,” He added, and the wolf slowly edged forwards, “We wanna help.” '
Relationships: Michael Clifford/Luke Hemmings/Calum Hood/Ashton Irwin
Series: Unpredictable [Wolfpack AU] [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818904
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	We’ll Stumble Through It All

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in a couple of days with minimal planning due to my intense love of werewolf fics and snuggly pack dynamics.

Calum stood with Mali, watching their parents. They were talking to a woman Calum had never seen before, although his mum had mentioned the possibility of new packmates. Calum didn’t want new packmates, he liked being able to run through the woods with his family. He didn’t want anyone else.

The adults’ conversation bored him, and he instead focused on the pretty pattern on the floor. Their pack house was a decent size, enough for the pack to expand if they wanted too, with a good number of spare rooms. It was also old, had been in the family for generations, since the pack had first formed. All Calum cared about was that there were lots of rooms to hide in, and there were a lot of paintings he wasn’t allowed to touch.

“Calum,” He lifted his head at the sound of his name. His mum was looking at him, smiling gently. Her hand was one the shoulder of a boy Calum’s age. “Can you show Michael to his room? He’s got the one next to yours, the one we sorted out the other day.”

Calum nodded, and the boy, Michael, hesitantly walked over to him. Calum beamed at him, the way that always made old ladies in town coo over him, and Michael returned the smile a little shyly. Calum grabbed his hand and lead him upstairs, pointing out a few rooms as they passed, until they reached the bedrooms.

“You’re gonna be sleeping here, and you can do what you want with the room,” Calum said, watching from the doorway as Michael wandered around the room, looking in drawers and working out where all his belongings had been put. “I’m just next door, if you need anything.”

“Thank you,” Michael said quietly, sitting down on his bed. Calum joined him.

Michael fiddled with the sheets, a Spiderman print that Calum had generously offered.

When the silence had stretched on a little too long, Calum spoke up again.

“Are you gonna join the school in town?” He asked. Michael nodded, but said nothing.

Calum tried again, “How old are you?”

“I’m nine,” Michael mumbled, looking up briefly before his eyes drifted back down to look at his hands.

“That’s cool, so am I!” Calum grinned, “That means we’ll be in the same class, and we can be friends!”

Michael looked up at that, holding Calum’s gaze. He seemed timid.

“We’re gonna be friends?” He asked, and Calum nodded vigorously.

“Of course! Best friends!”

###

True to his word, Calum and Michael became close friends, sticking together through school and graduating together. They spent their full moons play fighting, and slept curled up together more often than not.

They were running through the woods one day, human form but still playing like puppies, tackling each other and biting and such. Joy had kicked them out the house, the pair causing too much of a ruckus due to the restless feeling caused by the impending full moon. It wasn’t the first time they’d been kicked out for being a nuisance, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

They tumbled through the underbrush, scaring a few birds, but Calum quickly halted them with an arm across Michael’s chest when he noticed another wolf a few feet away.

Michael was confused for all of two seconds, before he spotted the wolf too, and quickly sat on the ground. Calum followed suit, noting the way the wolf cowered away, timid. Its fur was shaggy and pale brown, body lithe, ribs visible, hazel eyes too human to be a regular wolf. Its back leg didn’t touch the floor, held carefully, and there was blood visible in its fur.

“Can you change back?” Calum asked gently. Michael shucked his hoodie and held it out as an offering.

“We won’t hurt you,” He added, and the wolf slowly edged forwards, “We wanna help.”

Tenderly, the wolf took Michael’s hoodie between its teeth and shied away, curling in on itself.

Calum had seen the transformation many times before. It varied for everyone. Mali’s was smooth and almost painless, while Michael’s was jerky, pulling whimpers from him. Calum’s own transformation was as smooth as Mali’s, but still painful.

This wolf yelped through the transformation, bones cracking as they reformed, the whole thing stilted and clearly painful. When the cries of pain turned human, Calum looked up.

Bundled under Michael’s hoodie was a boy not much older than either of them, with curly brown hair, matted with blood down one side from a wound just above his eyebrow, hazel eyes wide with fear and pain.

“Hi there,” Calum said, in the same gentle voice he’d used before. “I’m Calum, my sister’s the Alpha of the pack around here, we live nearby. This is Michael, him and his mum joined from another pack when we were younger. What’s your name?”

The boy eyed them critically, tugging the hoodie sleeves over his hands. Eventually he responded, “Ashton. M’ name’s Ashton.”

Calum got to his feet, “Can you stand, or do you need help?”

Ashton shuffled around a little, getting a leg underneath himself, and managed to push himself up. He still didn’t put any weight on his left foot, and Calum caught his elbow as he wobble.

“Michael, can you run ahead and tell Mali,” Calum directed, and Michael stood up, saluting with a grin.

“Yessir,” He said, before running off.

Calum turned back to Ashton, who was watching Michael leave.

“Does he have to call you that?”

“What?” Calum tilted his head in question.

Ashton chewed his lip anxiously, “Does he have to call you ‘sir’?”

“No!” Calum hurried to explain, “He’s just joking around, don’t worry. Our pack is very relaxed, no official hierarchy, no rules. We only really have an Alpha so that we’re recognised as a pack. And for business stuff, like meetings with the local packs. Our neighbours are pretty relaxed too. A small pack, just Alpha Rian and his three ‘betas’,” He put air quote around the word, which made Ashton smile a little. “They’re cool, they come around for Christmas and stuff, and the territory lines are pretty blurry.”

“That sounds... nice,” Ashton said, leaning into Calum’s side for balance.

“It is,” Calum assured him. “Now, do you need help walking or do you want me to carry you or what? Because you definitely won’t make it to the house on your own.”

Ashton frowned, before huffing out a sigh, “can you carry me?”

“Of course,” Calum scooped him up, bridal style, mindful of his injuries. It didn’t stop Ashton from gasping in pain at the movement, but some things couldn’t be helped.

As carefully as possible, Calum picked his way through the trees and up to the house. Michael was waiting on the front step, looking worried, Mali stood just behind him.

“We’ve sorted out a room for you,” Michael said, the pair of them following Mali as she lead them inside. “It’s just across from our rooms, so if you need anything you can yell, we’ll hear you.”

Calum set Ashton down on the bed, propping his injured foot up with a pillow before sitting down beside him. Mali waited in the doorway, “Mum’s gone to find the first-aid kit, she’ll be up soon. I’ll leave you guys alone,” She smiled, before leaving.

Michael grabbed a pile of clothes from the desk, “You can borrow some of our clothes while you get settle, but once you’re healed we’ll take you out shopping for your own stuff.”

Ashton smiled, although he looked a little overwhelmed, “I- thank you. So much.”

“Hey,” Calum bumped their shoulders together gently, “You’re pack now, part of the family. We look after each other.”

###

Ashton became a fixture in the pack easily. He was confined to his bed for a few days to let his ankle heal, but Calum and Michael barely left his side the whole time. On the full moon, they helped him downstairs and out to the front lawn so he could transform with the rest of them.

He couldn’t run with the rest of them, but Calum and Michael made up for it by involving him in their playful wrestling. (And if they let him with nine times out of ten, well, no one had to know).

No one asked what events had lead to them finding Ashton in the woods, and he didn’t offer the information up himself, which was fine. Sometimes Calum woke up to Ashton crawling into bed with him, a mumbled apology on his lips.

“Sorry to wake you up,” Ashton always said.

“s okay,” Calum murmured back, “nightmares again?”

Ashton would nod, and Calum would wrap his arms around him and pull him into his chest.

One night, Calum woke up to the sound of yelling. He scrambled out of bed and opened the door, to see Michael had done the same, worry clear in his tired eyes. Together, they padded across the hallway and opened Ashton’s door.

Ashton had managed to tangle himself in his sheets, which clearly wasn’t helping his panic. His eyes were open but unfocused, staring at something only he could see, hands clutching by his sides. Michael took his hand, gently murmuring to him and shaking his shoulder. Calum shut the door and flicked the lamp on.

Eventually Ashton jerked awake, flailing a little until his eyes met Michael’s and he calmed slightly.

“That sounded like a pretty scary dream,” Calum said, coming over to kneel next to Michael.

Ashton just shrugged, “Sorry for waking you up.”

“Ashton,” Michael said, and Calum nearly scolded him for his stern tone of voice, “We’d happily wake up for you every single night if it meant you didn’t have to suffer through your nightmares alone.”

Calum nodded, “Yeah, we’re here for you.”

“I love you guys,” Ashton said softly, and Michael wrapped him up in a hug.

“We love you too. Want us to stay?” At Ashton’s nod, Michael crawled under the covers. Calum turned the lamp off before joining them on Ashton’s other side, sandwiching him in.

It was warm, nearly too much, but it was cosy. All Calum could smell was _pack_ and it made him want to wrap himself around them both and protect them from anything. He settled for throwing an arm over Ashton’s waist and reaching out to hold Michael’s hand, their linked fingers resting on Ashton’s tummy.

###

Ashton’s nightmares became less frequent as the year progressed. By Christmas they had stopped almost completely, although occasionally something would cause them to spark up again. Despite this, the three of them never really stop sharing a bed. Being a werewolf came with a certain degree of tactility that they tended to embody, constantly wrestling and cuddling and generally being all over each other.

On New Year ’s Day, Calum woke up to Michael’s hair in his mouth. The bed beside him was cold, Ashton probably out on his morning run, even though the sun was only just beginning to fight through the clouds. He felt wound up and flighty, the pull of the new moon messing with his head. He huffed, snuggling back under the covers and biting Michael’s shoulder.

“What’s got you so huffy?” He mumbled, voice thick with sleep.

“New moon tonight. You know it fucks me up,” Calum grumbled in response, and Michael laughed.

Calum whined, wrapping an arm around Michael’s waist and tugging him close, “Don’t laugh at me. Not my fault you’re weird and don’t feel the new moon. Ashton understands me.”

“Yeah yeah, grumpy,” Michael pet Calum’s hair absently, “Speaking of, is Ashton on his run?”

“Yup. Weird morning person.”

Michael laughed again, shoving Calum’s shoulder, “Come one, get up. We can go wait for Ash and if you’re that restless I’m sure he’ll wrestle.”

With another huff, Calum hauled himself out of bed, stealing one of Michael’s sweaters for the trouble. Michael just grinned, getting dressed too, before they headed downstairs together.

Sat on the front step, Calum threw an arm around Michael’s shoulders, holding him close. They cuddled together, listening to the sounds of the world waking up around them.

Soon though, Ashton emerged from the tree line, moving quickly. In his arms was a boy, unconscious, and Ashton looked distraught. Calum jumped to his feet, tugging Michael with him, and the pair ran to meet him.

“I-I found him in the woods- I think he got bit last night, probably by some rogue. Fuck I don’t know if he’s gonna survive or if the bite took hold or-”

Michael cut Ashton off, clearly sensing his rising panic, “Hey, don’t worry alright? We’ll do our best to help.”

Ashton chewed his lip, but nodded and let Calum take the boy from his arms. The boy was blonde and pale, wearing just jeans and a t-shirt. His shirt was almost completely shredded, and Calum could see the blood and dirt around the large bite mark in his side.

Calum carried the boy back to the house, leaving Michael to calm Ashton. Mali and their mother both helped him tend to the boys wound, cleaning him up before setting him in one of the spare bedrooms, next to Ashton’s. After that there was nothing they could do but wait to see if the bite took hold.

###

Calum was dozing in his chair when a distressed noise woke him up. He jolted a little, rousing himself quickly, and saw that the blonde boy was finally waking up properly.

It had been a few days since Ashton had found him, and the boy had been drifting in and out of consciousness since. On the second day he’d developed a fever, but when it broke it became clear that he was no longer human. Calum had never seen a bitten human turn into a wolf before, although he knew Ashton had been bitten. It was scary, and looked painful.

Calum moved to perch on the edge of the bed, watching as the boy opened his eyes. He squinted at the sudden onslaught of light, before his eyes settled on Calum.

“Hi there,” Calum said softly, “Do you remember what happened?”

The boy frowned, “I was in the woods,” He mumbled, voice rough, “Something attacked me. I don’t- can’t remember anything else.”

“That’s right, you were attacked. But don’t worry, my mum helped clean you up. Not to alarm you, but you’ve been asleep for a couple of days. Is there someone you need to call, to, like, let them know you’re alive?”

The boy’s expression hardened at that, and he looked away, “No. It’s fine.”

Calum frowned a little, but didn’t comment. “I’m Calum, by the way. My uh, my friend Ashton, he’s the one who found you. What’s your name?”

“Luke,” the boy said, eyeing Calum for a moment, “I think we went to school together. You were friends with that Michael guy, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Calum grinned, “He’s here too.”

Luke looked confused at that, “You guys live together? I thought your mum was here too.”

“Yeah, here’s the thing...”

###

Luke took surprisingly well to the news of his new werewolf status.

Calum stayed with him the rest of the day, explaining everything and answering all his questions. He talked about how Michael and his mother had joined the pack, how Calum and Michael had been best friends since, how Ashton had joined later after running away from a shitty pack. He talked about the dynamics between them, about how things were relaxed in the pack. He talked about meetings with the neighbouring packs and how they were nice, and if Ashton hadn’t found Luke then Rian or Zack probably would have.

Once he had finished explaining, he showed Luke around the house, pointing out everyone’s rooms. When the tour was done, they circled around, but instead of going back into Luke’s room, Calum knocked on Ashton’s door.

Instead of Ashton, Michael was the one to open the door, grinning when he saw Luke.

“Look who’s awake! How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling good,” Luke looked surprised at Michael’s enthusiasm, “You’re Michael right? We went to school together, I’m Luke.”

Michael considered him for a moment, “I thought you looked familiar! That’s cool.”

Michael stepped aside to let them in. Ashton was curled up in the corner of his bed, book open in his lap, though his eyes were on the door. He smiled when he saw Luke for himself, more shy than Michael, but just as happy.

It didn’t take much for Luke to settle into the pack, and when he did, things felt like they were finally falling into place.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all liked it, lemme know your thoughts!


End file.
